Cllr. Driver and his resignation from Thanet Labour Group

By Cllr Clive Hart - Labour Group Leader 

 

THE FACTS

 

Firstly, Cllr Driver sent his apologies and did not attend the Group meeting where our original draft budget proposals were agreed. 

 

Immediately after I received Cllr Driver's email regarding our draft budget press release I phoned him and discussed his concerns with him.

 

In public at the Thanet District Council (TDC) Cabinet meeting on 5th January Cllr Driver was allowed to speak and give his views on the issue and further discussion took place.

 

In public at the TDC Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 12th January Cllr Driver spoke at enormous length on the issue and even more discussion took place.

 

In the days between the Scrutiny meeting and our Group meeting on Thursday evening I spoke at length with our Group Deputy Leader, our Group Chair and our Cabinet member for Finance regarding Cllr Driver's concerns.

 

At Group on Thursday evening Cllr Driver was again encouraged to voice his concerns and ALL members present, including Cllr Driver repeatedly, debated the issue for well over an hour. When the final decision was made at the end of the debate, no-one supported Cllr Driver's view.

 

There were no 'scenes' and Cllr Driver left the meeting quietly, leaving behind his written resignation.

 

Our Group is a very inclusive and democratic organisation and I truly believe Cllr Driver was given every possible opportunity to put his case.

 

I think it is very sad that even after this lengthy procedure, he felt unable to accept the views of his fellow group members.

 

Cllr Driver's resignation changes little and I hope our sincere and positive actions since taking control have won us support outside of our party. Cross party working is essential in a hung council and I would think that is exactly what the public would wish to see.

New Thanet District Council Labour Cabinet - leading by example

Monday evening's extraordinary Thanet Council Cabinet was the first to take place since Labour gained control of Thanet District Council last week and immediately, there was a very different style and approach to matters.

 

The cabinet was made up of a group of three men and two women, an offer to include the two other political leaders in a fact finding mission was made, and on one particular item the whole cabinet team decided to visit the area concerned to gain in depth practical knowledge before making a decision.

 

Council Leader and Cabinet Chairman Cllr Clive Hart said:

 

"There are three very significant changes in the Labour teams approach to cabinet business.

 

Firstly, I'm delighted to be supported in our cabinet by two men and two women who each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. Just as importantly, every member of our cabinet is a 'hands-on' councillor with practical common sense and excellent interpersonal skills.

 

Secondly, whenever necessary, and as a team, we will go out into the community concerned to see and hear for ourselves exactly what the situation is 'on the ground'.

 

Lastly, whilst maintaining ultimate control over cabinet decisions, we will endeavor to include the leaders of the other two political groups in fact finding projects affecting the residents of Thanet.

 

Our approach will be as fair, open, transparent and inclusive as is practical and possible".

 

Note: At item 7 of Monday's Thanet Council Cabinet agenda, Proposed Development - Hartsdown and Tivoli Park. The cabinet team unanimously agreed to visit the site to see and hear pertinent matters regarding the proposal. The Leaders of the other two political groups were invited to join the site visit which will take place at 2pm on Thursday 22nd December.

Manston - proposed night-time flying policy

by Cllr. Clive Hart - Labour Group Leader
 
"The proposed night-time flying policy for Manston International Airport has now been published by Infratil.

Over the coming weeks and months members of the Labour group will scrutinise the proposed night-flying document carefully and thoroughly. Our District councillors will then make their individual views known at the appropriate points in the process, having taken account of all the information available".

 

Note: The proposed night-time flying policy may well become the subject of a planning application and therefore it would be inappropriate for any councillor to comment further at this time.

Proud to be Pluralist

By Councillor Linda Aldred

The results of the recent District elections left Thanet with no one political party gaining an overall majority. Within the two main groups (Conservatives 27 - Labour 26) there are very different scenarios indeed.

The Conservative group is made up of 20 men and 7 women. The Labour Group is made up of 14 men and 12 women.

At Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet level the differences are more pronounced. The Conservative Cabinet is totally made up of men whilst the Labour Shadow Cabinet is made up of 3 men and 2 women.

Now I'm a great believer in the right person for the job, whatever their gender, but are the Conservatives really saying that there are no women members in their group good enough for the job? What message does that send to the general public as a whole?

At the first meeting of Thanet Council since the elections I was very pleased to look around our assembled Labour group and see a real cross section of the communities we represent. There was a reasonable balance of male and female members from a wide range of age groups, and our number came from many walks of life.

The view on the Conservative benches was altogether different. A group very much dominated by, and exclusively led by, 'senior' men.

Objectionable Conservative Behaviour

The Labour Group in Thanet says the objectionable online behaviour of Conservative candidate Payam Tamiz is not the first time the local Tories have been shown to lack scruples.

Mr Tamiz has stood down after making offensive comments on Facebook about young women in Thanet and killer Raoul Moat.

Tory Leader and Leader of TDC, Bob Bayford said he had spoken to Mr Tamiz after being told of the comments but that he had left it for him to decide how to respond.

We believe Bob Bayford made a serious error of judgement and that he should have insisted on Mr. Tamiz’ immediate resignation.

Local Labour group spokeswoman Iris Johnston says: "This follows a string of unfortunate incidents for the Tories.  Their former leader Sandy Ezekiel was reprimanded by the Standards Committee after threatening the then Mayor of Margate at a civic function; a Thanet Tory Councillor was forced to resign when it was discovered he was living in Panama and receiving his Councillor’s allowance (although the Tories argued for a year that he could do the job over the internet by email) and another Thanet Tory Councillor was imprisoned after being repeatedly caught drinking and driving.

This is a party with very questionable standards of behaviour and voters really need to be asking themselves on May 5 if these are the kind of people they want running their District.

The Tories are not only pulling the rug out from under local communities by slashing local services and making cuts that go too far and too fast, but they also do not seem to understand what is acceptable behaviour and what is not."

The people of Thanet, who are facing massive job losses through knee jerk cuts from Central Government, deserve a Council that fights for them. Labour must win on May 5th to bring back some decency and confidence to Thanet.

Thanet Labour Leader Clive Hart said "A key part in the 'Bringing Back the Pride' section of our Labour manifesto is to insist on Criminal Records Bureau Checks for all councillors”.

Thanet Local Labour Manifesto 2011

By Clive Hart / @CliveHart

For the past eight years Thanet has suffered badly from a Conservative-led district council. Deprivation, empty properties and poorly kept streets are sadly all too common in our main towns and villages; the neglect is clearly visible for all to see. Our main High Streets have too many boarded up shops and prime attractions such as Ramsgate Royal Harbour & Marina and Margate Harbour have been badly neglected.

The visible signs of neglect are bad enough, but what has gone on behind the scenes is probably much worse. In a desperate bid to raise money, the Conservatives have tried to sell many well-used and much-loved community assets.

Whilst the Conservative political leadership have been busy bungling decisions, leading council officers have been even busier reorganising TDC from the top down. This situation was more fully exposed during the February 2011 meeting of TDC when Labour councillors suggested a cap on leading officers pay whilst other members of staff were being made redundant. The Conservatives didn't just vote against the idea, their leader went a step further and publicly ordered his Conservative members not to discuss the issue.

Through our policies, Local Labour will take firm action and bring back pride in Thanet!

Download our manifesto here